The Heart of Christmas Magic
by QueenLisa
Summary: Shadow's daughter has been kidnapped on Christmas. It's up to the Sonic gang to find and protect her. Will they save her in time or will Shadow be spending a black Christmas?


The Heart of Christmas Magic

Chapter 1

One day in the snow, Sonic and Knuckles were holding hands as they walked together. Soon it started to snow, making the snow deeper and deeper.

"I can't see far, the snow is too thick." Sonic said.

Knuckles dug a hole, and Sonic followed him.

"Thank you Knuckles. Now I need to give you something. But, not until Christmas, ok." Sonic told him.

Knuckles sighed. He didn't really want to wait until Christmas. So that night, when Sonic was sleeping, Knuckles snuck down to the tree and looked at his presents. Then he heard some noise and he smiled.

"I know what he got me now." He said softly as he ran back up to his room. He slept by Sonic until the sun came up.

The next morning, Sonic opened his eyes and poked Knuckles in his side. "Wake up love, it is time to open the gifts."

Knuckles ran down the stairs. "Okay Knuckles this is for you." Sonic handed him the gift.

"Oh Sonic!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"I knew you'd love it." Sonic told him.

"So did you get me anything?" Knuckles ran up to the room and brought it out.

"Ok, Sonic, here it is. Open your eyes."

Sonic looked and saw it was a big hot dog, and he was very happy.

Sonic kissed him. "Oh, Knuckles!"

Chapter 2

Sonic and Knuckles was enjoying their perfect Christmas…that is until Shadow showed up. He burst through the door and walked in with a heartbreaking look on his face.

Sonic jumped to his feet and instantly grew angry. "You! What do you want?!"

Knuckles had been in the kitchen, getting something to eat when he heard Sonic yelling. He ran to Sonic and when he spotted Knuckles he was filled with rage as he clenched his fists. "You!"

Shadow gasped back a sob as a tear came from his eye. Sonic and Knuckles relaxed a bit before looking at each other. Something had definitely upset him. Sonic took the edge out of his voice and spoke to a distraught Shadow. "Sh-Shadow? Wh-What's wrong? I've never seen you like this before."

Shadow regained some of his composure and spoke his problem. "She's gone."

Sonic didn't know who Shadow was talking about. He shook his head in puzzlement while Knuckles continued to look at Shadow. "Who's gone?"

Shadow clenched his fists even tighter as tears flowed from his eyes. "MY DAUGHTER!"

The two looked at each other in confusion and disbelief. They couldn't believe that someone would take Shadow's daughter's life. They both spoke in unison as they asked the one question that tore Shadow's heart. "How?!"

Shadow shouted in rage and anguish as his one voice filled the underground home. "THEY KIDNAPPED HER!!!"

Chapter 3

Tails and Cosmo were walking hand in hand through the crisp forest on that bright Christmas morning. It was peaceful and humbly quiet except for the crunching of dead leaves under their feet. When they stopped for a moment , Tails caught the sound of someone calling for help. His ears twitched as he listened for the sound again.

"H-Help…"

The sound seemed to get weaker by the second and he knew someone was in deep trouble. He squeezed Cosmo's hand and pulled her along. "Come on, Cosmo!"

Cosmo didn't know what had come over Tails. One minute they were enjoying a nice slow walk and the next minute she's being dragged all over the place. "Tails, stop! What's wrong?!"

Tails didn't answer her because the smell of fresh blood in the air tickled his nose. It only pushed him further and faster. He saw an object in the distance and the smell grew thicker. When they grew closer, they stopped five feet from it. It was a girl. She had kiwi hair and looked to be about 12 years old. She was bleeding everywhere and growing severely pale. She slowly opened her cobalt eyes and when she spoke, Tails could barely make out her cry. "Help…"

Cosmo gasped and put her hands over her mouth as Tails ran to her side. "Oh my goodness. Tails, who is she?"

Tails quietly gasped as he tried to maintain his calmness. He quickly examined her and knew that she was hurt very bad. "Oh my God. It's Maria, Shadow's daughter." He picked her up and found that she was incredibly limp. "Come on. Let's take her home."

Tails and Cosmo raced to Shadow's home. Little did they know they were being watched. They entered his house and gently laid Maria on Shadow's bed. Cosmo cleaned and bandaged her wounds while Tails kept on the lookout. When she was done, Cosmo pulled up the sheets around Maria then walked to Tails. He turned his head when he saw her coming. "How is she?"

Cosmo held her hands together as she gave Tails a look before glancing back at Maria. "I don't know. I stopped her bleeding but I don't know if she'll make it. It can go either way."

Tails thought a second and looked at her. "I'm going to find Shadow. He's probably going crazy right now. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Cosmo took his hands and looked into his eyes. "Promise me you'll be okay?"  
Tails gave her a nod and a smile. "I promise. Take care of Maria." He opened the door and began to spin his tail in a fan-like motion. He glided into the air and began to search for Shadow.

10 minutes after Tails left on his search, Cosmo heard a noise. She was sitting by Maria's side when she started toward the door. Before she could reach the door, it busted open and strange men in black SWAT team uniforms with guns raced inside. It was the Guardian Units of Nations (G.U.N.). Cosmo gasped and stood in front of Maria. "Get out!"

The leader slowly walked toward Cosmo then stopped. "We've come for the girl."

Cosmo gritted her teeth and shook her head. "No! You can't have her! Now, get out!"

One of the G.U.N. soldiers directly pointed his gun at Cosmo and aimed at her when the leader stopped him.

"No. She's not worth killing. We can take the girl by force."

The leader walked up to Cosmo and though she was very afraid she still stood her ground. The leader slapped Cosmo so hard that she flew into the next room. When her head hit the floor, she was knocked unconscious. The men took Maria and headed back into their jet fighter plane. Half of them took her back to their base while the other half went in a search for their real target: Shadow.

Shadow had informed Sonic and Knuckles where he had last seen Maria. After 20 minutes of walking, they came into the area where Maria had disappeared. That's when Knuckles glanced at Shadow. He could tell that Shadow was in a lot of pain when he smelled something in the air. "Sonic, do you smell that?"

He nodded his head and began to run. "Come on!"

He didn't have to tell them twice. Knuckles and Shadow ran behind Sonic as the smell of blood grew closer. Sonic stopped when he saw the blood. Shadow gasped and walked to it; touching it with two of his fingers, seeing how red and sticky it was. "No… It can't be…"

After minutes of searching, Tails found Shadow along with Sonic and Knuckles. He flew down and landed beside Shadow. "Shadow! Cosmo and I found Maria."

Shadow grabbed the young fox by surprise and nearly lifted him off the ground. "WHERE IS SHE?! IS SHE ALL RIGHT?! TELL ME!"

Sonic and Knuckles ran behind Shadow and had to pull him off of Tails. Knuckles huffed and sighed. "Calm down and let him speak."

Tails gasped how quick Shadow was and told him everything before he really lost his mind. "We found her. She was hurt pretty bad but Cosmo and I took her back to your house. Cosmo bandaged her up and she's looking after her while Maria's resting."

Before Shadow could race back to his beloved daughter, G.U.N. troops, who had been monitoring the area, landed behind them. The leader of that group shook his head with a sick smile. "I'm afraid you're wrong little fox.. You see we found Maria and the girl who was guarding her. I'm afraid we had to take her…by force."

Tails grew mad and began to ball up his fist as tears streamed down his eyes. "What did you do to them?!"

He sneered and looked at them. "Don't worry. We spared your little friend. She's just taking a nap right now. But the girl is in our possession now."  
Shadow couldn't take it anymore. He rolled into a tight ball and spun at the G.U.N. troops before they could even move out of the way. The troops were knocked out except for the leader. He jumped onto the leader's chest and lifted him a bit. "TELL ME WHAT YOU'VE SICK BASTARDS HAVE DONE WITH HER! TELL ME!! NOW!!!"

The leader cowered in fear as he told the whole plan. "Maria's on our plane. She'll be put in a cell where she'll be our prisoner. It was all a plan to get you to come and rescue her."

Shadow punched him out while Tails spoke. "Come on. I'll get the Blue Typhoon ready." He turned to Sonic and before he could ask Sonic a favor, he lifted his head at Tails.

"Don't worry, little buddy. I'll get Cosmo and we'll meet you at the Blue Typhoon."

While everyone was on a mission to rescue Maria, Maria was transported from the jet fighter plane to a spaceship. She very slowly opened her eyes and looked around. She thought she was alone but there was actually two other girls in the cell with her. Both of the girls came close to look at her but stayed far on their side. One of them spoke with a timid question. "W-Who are you?"

Maria gently sighed and closed her eyes for a minute. She was still quite weak from her blood loss. "I'm Maria."

The two came closer to Maria and when Maria reopened her eyes, she noticed that they were now sitting around her with smiles on their faces. They actually looked very much like Sonic and Knuckles. The girl who looked like Sonic beamed her a smile and tilted her head a bit. "I'm Sonica and this cool girl sitting next to me is my sister, Knuckala."

Knuckala crossed her arms, smiled, and nodded her head toward Maria. "Nice to meet you."  
Maria gave them a very weak smile. "Nice to meet both of you."

While all three girls were getting to know one another, Tails and the others were safely tucked into the Blue Typhoon. Tails activated the cloaking device and the starship became hidden. He turned his head and looked at Shadow who was on edge. "Shadow, get in the Power Cannon. I'll fire you at the ship that's holding Maria."

Shadow nodded his head and headed toward the room that held the Power Cannon. He got into a tight ball and jumped inside the cannon. "Hold on, Maria. I'm coming."

Tail stopped his ship 200 ft away from the G.U.N. spacecraft. He turned the cloaking device off and aimed the Power Cannon at the enemy. A shot was fired and Shadow was hurled directly at the G.U.N. ship.

When Shadow broke into the hull of the ship, the girls heard a loud crash. Sonica looked around as she heard the men outside of their cell room, shouting in a panic. "What was that?"

It didn't take Shadow long to find Maria. He broke open her cell and gently scooped her into his arms. "Maria…Maria…Speak to me."

She opened her eyes and gently leaned up to kiss his cheek. "Daddy…I knew you'd come for me."

Knuckala gasped then looked at her sister before looking at the pair. "That's your dad? That's the evil hedgehog that's trying to kill everyone. Were you going to kill us too?"

Maria slowly shook her head and gently sighed. "He's not evil and neither am I. I would never hurt you."

Shadow growled at the two and proceeded to teach them a lesson. Sonica and Knuckala held each other while Maria stopped him. "No. Don't hurt them."

He looked down at her while she looked up at him. "Who are they?"

She turned her head and smiled at them. "They're my new friends. I think they are…"

Before Maria could finish her sentence, Shadow felt the ship rumble and shake violently. He knew right then and there that the ship was about to crash.

Chapter 4

Alarms went off and the sounds of the G.U.N. soldiers grew louder. They were in such a panic that they completely forgot about the prisoners. Shadow checked Maria once more and then quickly looked around. He knew Maria would never be able to survive one second outside of the ship. He put her down and gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I'll be right back."

Shadow made a quick run of the place and found a space suit just for Maria's size. He ran back to the prison and gently helped her put it on. He made a tight ball and pierced a huge hole in the hull. The wind was whipping at them like the devil. Shadow picked up Maria and held her close to him as he made his way to the hole. "ALL RIGHT, MARIA! HOLD ON!"

Shadow jumped out of spaceship and landed on the runway of the Blue Typhoon. He ran into the hangar and took off Maria's spacesuit. He then noticed she was bleeding. "No! Maria! Hold on!" He ran further inside to get help for his daughter.

Meanwhile, Sonica and Knuckala were still on the crashing ship. Knuckala took her sister's hand and made their way about 10 feet to the opening of the hull. "THE SHIP'S CRASHING! WE'VE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE!

Sonica held onto Knuckala's hand as she shouted so her sister could hear her. "HOW?! DO WE FLY?!"

Knuckala saw that the ship entering the planet's atmosphere. Then she waited until the ship cooled down. "NO! WE JUMP!!!"

They jumped out of the ship and landed on the cold, hard ground of the forest. Knuckala watched as the ship crashed and exploded into flames. "Whoa. That could have been us."

Sonica hugged her sister tightly with a smile. "Good thinking sister."

Knuckala groaned and patted her sister. "All right. You can let me go." She watched her sister let her go then stood up and dusted herself off. "Well, now that we're safe we've got to find help."

They looked around and Knuckala sighed. They trudged deeper and deeper into the forest and the farther they walked the more hopeless it seemed they'd be rescued.

Hours passed and Maria was slowly making her recovery with Shadow by her side. Everyone came in to check on her when Maria opened her eyes. She looked at her friends then looked at Shadow. "Daddy, where are my friends?"

Shadow didn't have the heart to tell her that the ship crashed with her friends on it. Tails stepped forward and gave her a small but sad smile. "Maria…the ship crashed and I think your friends were on it."

She slowly shook her head and looked at them. "No… It can't be. No…" She looked at Shadow and tried to sit up. "They're not dead. I know they're not. They must be on that planet. We have to find them. We have to…ow."

Shadow made her lie back down and nodded his head. "Don't worry, Maria. We'll find them. You just rest."

Tail smiled at Maria. "Don't worry. I'll land the spaceship on the planet right away."

Sonic stood behind Shadow and put his hand on his shoulder. "Shadow, Knuckles and I will look for Maria's friends. You just stay with Maria."

Shadow nodded his head and held Maria's hand. "Thanks."

It got colder and colder as the light left the skin. Sonica and Knuckala were freezing. Sonica shivered as she looked at her sister. "I'm cold."

Knuckala sighed and nodded her head. "So am I."

They walked for hours into the night until they couldn't walk anymore. They fell on the ground as they lost consciousness. When they opened their eyes, they were on the Blue Typhoon. Sonica  
turned her head and looked at Knuckala. "Are we dead?"

She looked at Sonica then looked around her. "I hope not."

Sonic and Knuckles walked in to check on the girls. He smiled when he found them awake. "Hey, it's about time you two woke up."

Sonica took one look at Sonic and hugged him tightly while Knuckles and Knuckala looked at each other. "Daddy!"

Sonic looked more confused than ever. "Hold on there. I'm not your dad."

Knuckles and Knuckala looked silently took each other's hands. He smiled at her while she returned it. "No, Sonic. They are our daughters. They look just like us."

Sonic groaned as Sonica continued to hold onto him, then she jumped into his arms, causing him to fall. "Then how come I got the hyper one?"

Knuckles gently laughed and hugged his daughter. "Because that's what you are: hyper."

They all laughed and brought the girls to see Maria. When they saw her, they gave her a big hug. Knuckles, Shadow, and Sonic smiled at their girls while Tails stood far behind them with Cosmo holding his hand. Sonic nodded his head and crossed his arms. "Now our family is complete. This is the best Christmas ever." 

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